Paper use & recycling
Reception, Flemming building, Lincoln site
For the 2015-16 year Landcare Research used office paper that equated to 4.46 tCO2e or 3,512 tonnes.
Paper purchase data are obtained from our providers, OfficeMax and Spectrum Print. The volume of paper product used is calculated using the conversion: one paper ream = 2.5 kg. We calculate reams of copy paper and printed office paper stationary (notepads, envelopes, exercise books, etc). This total is then converted to tonnes of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e) and carbon credits are purchased to offset this amount.
Copy paper purchase declines as our technologies improve: SLT have replaced their large monthly bound reports with i-pads; meeting rooms have access to the network with large screens reducing the need for attendees to print agendas and minutes; many staff now utilise Skype-for-Business from their desk to work collaboratively on documents online rather than in hardcopy.
In July 2013 Landcare Research introduced an exciting new paper-conservation tool called ‘follow-you’ printing. This works by programming printers to only print a document once the staff member is physically at the printer and has selected the document to print.
This graph shows the amount of copy paper, in 500-page reams, that Landcare Research saved by site through utilising 'Follow-You' printing. These 71,341 pages were items that staff had sent to the printer but then either failed to collect (expired jobs) or cancelled at the printer (deleted jobs). Follow-You printing saved almost one half of a tonne of CO2e in GHG emissions in 2015-16.
